Corporate Mentor Program

Corporate Mentor Program

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

CORPORATE MENTOR PROGRAM For more than 25 years, USF’s Corporate Mentor Program has paired business students with mentors from the Tampa Bay business community. Mentors are business leaders who share common interests with the student, coach the student and serve as a resource. Mentors provide access to opportunities where students learn about interviewing, corporate culture, networking, respected and successful professionals who serve as coaches, advisors, and friends who provide access and opportunity.

Designed for junior and senior students who are the first person in their families to go to college, the Corporate Mentor Program does more than simply connect students with professionals. The workshops, seminars, dinners, and other opportunities help students develop professionally and build the underlying skills that allow them to become tomorrow’s leaders.

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

and how to become leaders in the corporate world. In essence, mentors are

PROGRAM FEATURES

Personal development strategy MENTORING

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

The Corporate Mentor Program builds bridges of success for underrepresented students.

Mentors provide access to opportunities where students learn about interviewing, corporate culture, networking, and how to become leaders in the corporate world.

Students and mentors meet monthly at the mentor’s workplace. Mentors find reward in helping a new and diverse generation of college students find success by providing their guidance at a pivotal point in a student’s life. Mentors also gain insight into this generation’s values, and ambitions. Mentors help students clarify and achieve goals, largely by sharing friendship and advice.

Additonally, students should be open, honest, and able to accept advice and constructive criticism in the spirit intended to help them develop professionally and personally.

SCHOLARSHIPS Traditionally, first-generation students incur the largest amount of student loan debt of any population, with four out of five students working more than 25 hours weekly to pay for their educational expenses. To help, the Corporate Mentor Program awards more than $80,000 in scholarship to participating students each year.

MORE THAN

125 PROFESSIONALS BEYOND THE BOOKS TRAINING Professional Development Premiere courses provide students with opportunities to focus on

& 70 FIRMS

REGULARLY ENGAGED IN THE PROGRAM

interpersonal communication. Coupled with students’ technical business classes, this class helps students learn to differentiate themselves from other applicants, students, and graduates in the job market and in their internship search.

100%

PLACEMENT IN A JOB OR IN GRADUATE SCHOOL UPON GRADUATION

Students in the Professional Development Premiere courses develop their networking skills in real time while participating in workshops such as “Dress for Success,” “Branding Yourself,” “How to Work a Room,” and “Business Etiquette.”

These workshops give students practical instruction and advice for professional and personal development.

GRADUATES ARE ACCEPTING JOBS WITH SALARIES THAT

ARE MORE THAN

25% HIGHER

THAN SALARIES OF OTHER USF GRADUATES

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

professional development with an emphasis on

STUDENTS

BENEFITS INNOVATIVE LEARNING & SPECIAL PROGRAMS In addition to the Professional Development Premiere courses, students attend improv sessions, where they strengthen interpersonal skills through a series of fun, progressive games taught by an improvisation expert.

ACADEMIC COACHING PRIVILEGES Students work directly with a full-time academic coach to ensure agreed upon goals are met, as well as timely graduation to minimize college costs.

RECOGNITION Mentored students are often featured in college and university publications and serve as informal ambassadors for the Muma College of Business, speaking at advisory council meetings or representing USF at community events. In the past six years, 19 Corporate Mentor students were included in the business school’s 25 Under 25 recognition program recognizing excellence in scholarship, community involvement, professional development and leadership.

SERVICE Corporate Mentor Program students complete, on average, 2,000+ volunteer hours each academic year. Many give back to younger students in the area, mentoring elementary or middle schoolers through Academy Prep, Big Brothers Big Sisters, or Junior Achievement programs.

STUDENTS

achieved. The coach works hand in hand with academic advising to ensure degree progress is

SUCCESS STORIES Alumnus Brian Lamb (left) benefited from the Corporate Mentor Program when he was a student and member of USF’s basketball team. Paired with Dennis Zank (center), president of Raymond James, Lamb credits this program with his early career success.

STUDENTS

Dennis offered a wealth of experience and helped me transition from college to the workplace,” Lamb says. “I gained exposure to simple things like executive attire and how to run a board meeting, both of which are part of my daily life now. He taught me the importance of setting and executing goals,” he adds.

“

“The relationship we shared helped me appreciate opportunities readily available to well-educated, well-prepared students. I completed the mentorship program full of confidence in my ability to compete successfully in the ‘professional world’ and not just on the basketball court.”

Years later, business student Torrell Jackson (right) was paired with Zank and, by extension, Lamb. “Mr Zank is full of wisdom and after every visit, I left motivated to be the best person I can possibly be,” says Jackson, a 2010 graduate who is now a banker himself in the Atlanta area.

Corporate Mentor students enjoy learning and networking opportunities not normally found in the classroom, such as on- or off-campus meetings with mentors, workshops, etiquette dinners, networking programs, and online communities.

The Corporate Mentor Program is open to any rising junior or senior studying business who is the first person in his/her family to complete a four-year degree in the United States. Students must have a minimum of a 2.75 GPA and must be fully accepted into the USF Muma College of Business. The selection process includes an application and interview, where the student’s campus and community service, prior leadership experience, willingness to be an active participant, and ability to maintain academic goals are evaluated. If admitted into the program, students must enroll in Professional Development Premiere courses.

STUDENTS

ELIGIBILITY

MENTORS

MENTORING BASICS HAVE AN ONGOING CONVERSATION Invite students to talk often, ask them how they are doing with course­work or projects. Share coffee or meals away from the office to engage students in informal and engaging discussions without office distrac­tions. Be aware of body language that students may interpret as inat­tention.

Provide students with frank, helpful, and timely feedback. Temper criticism with praise when it is deserved, and hold students to high standards to help them improve both professionally and personally.

PROVIDE ENCOURAGEMENT Know that many students experience anxiety about their place in college and the professional world. Help them understand that even seasoned professionals experience this kind of anxiety.

FOSTER NETWORKS AND MULTIPLE MENTORS Help students locate assistance from sources of expertise, and see USF faculty, graduate students, alumni, department staff, and retired faculty as invaluable resources.

MENTORS

PROVIDE CONSTRUCTIVE AND SUPPORTIVE FEEDBACK

MENTORS

APPLICATION Mentors find reward in helping a new and diverse generation of college students find success by providing their guidance at a pivotal point in a student’s life. Mentors also gain insight into this generation’s values, and ambitions. Mentors help students clarify and achieve goals, largely by sharing friendship and advice.

Mentors should meet students monthly at the workplace. Before volunteering, talk one-on-one with mentors about the program, volunteer obligations/ expectations, and time commitment.

WAYS TO MENTOR Good mentoring rarely just “happens.” It develops from reflection, planning, and an understanding of a student’s needs as well as a mentor’s unique qualities.

• Invite student to job shadow for a day • Attend a meeting related to an ongoing project or important organizational function • Review and critique student’s résumé •Participate in practice interviews and provide feedback on student’s interviewing skills

MENTORS

Volunteers are paired with students based on career fields, common interests, and/or availability.

PARTICIPATING COMPANIES Mentors come from a variety of industries, corporate levels, and career fields, ranging from large financial services firms to local banks to international marketing firms.

Booz, Allen, Hamilton Brock Communications Carlton Fields Citi Deloitte Eagle Asset Management Ernst & Young Edward Jones Fifth Third Bank First Citrus Bank Florida Division of Hotels & Restaurants Foley & Lardner LLP Freedman Office Furniture & Supplies Horace Mann Insurance JPMorgan

CORPORATE DONORS From PDF

McGuinness & Co. Nielsen Paradise Advertising and Marketing Paragon Capital Partners Peace Wealth Management Prudential Insurance Raymond James State Farm Insurance Sun State International T. Rowe Price Tampa Port Authority USF Athletics Warrick Dunn Foundation Well Care Health Plans

INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTIONS Barron G. Collier III, Managing Partner Barron Collier Companies Ralph Ghioto III, President Century Automotive Brian Lamb, Senior Vice President & Business Banking Executive Fifth Third Bank Joe Teague, Managing Partner Northwestern Mutual Financial Network/The Teague Group Dennis Zank, President Raymond James & Associates

ABOUT THE MUMA COLLEGE OF BUSINESS COLLIER STUDENT SUCCESS CENTER Working in tandem with USF’s Career Center, the Muma College of Business Collier Student Success Center assists students with career planning, hosts corporate networking events, and coordinates workshops to help students with professional development.

The center consists of • Undergraduate Advising • Office of Employer Relations • Corporate Mentor Program • International Programs • Bulls Business Community • BizCom Center and other programming related to student success.

ABOUT THE DONORS Barron (Barry) Gift Collier III is a 1980 graduate of the USF Muma College of Business, and was a director of the USF Fort Myers Foundation board from 1987 to 1992. Today, he is chair of the Barron Collier Partnership, dedicated to the responsible development, management, and stewardship of the partnership’s land holdings and other assets in the businesses of agriculture, real estate, and mineral management.

Dana Collier graduated from the Central Ohio Technical College, which is affiliated with The Ohio State University. She chose to stay home and raise the couple’s four children: Barron, Alexandra, Lara, and Christopher. The oldest three have graduated college and are starting their own careers, while Christopher is in school at Belmont University.

Corporate Mentor Program

Olivia T. Davis, Program Director ODavis1@usf.edu • (813) 974-0557 www.usf.edu/business/student-success/cmp